East Baton Rouge Parish Council Nixes Bond Plan, Again

BRADENTON, Fla. - Louisiana's East Baton Rouge Parish will not hold a bond referendum in May.

The city council voted 4-8 on Jan. 14 against declaring an emergency that would have allowed the May election for a measure to authorize $335.6 million in sales tax revenue bonds for public safety improvements.

To hold a special election in May required the commission to declare an emergency because state law requires that such initiatives appear on gubernatorial election ballots. A new governor will be elected in October.

The public safety initiative, spearheaded by Mayor Kip Holden, included a 0.25% increase in the sales tax to secure the bonds to build several facilities, including a new jail and mental health center, and a 2-mill property tax increase for operations.

Law enforcement officers, attorneys, and prison volunteers described deteriorating conditions at the city-parish jail, portions of which were built in the 1960s. They also said there are serious security issues especially with the handling of people diagnosed with mental health problems.

One officer said some 700 inmates are housed at other prisons due to the conditions.

In a video presentation, Holden said his initiative represents an integrated approach to addressing East Baton Rouge's prison, detention, and mental illness needs. He also said that the proposal evolved from several years of study.

"If we don't take action now, we stand a strong possibility of a federal consent decree being handed down that would cost a lot of money," Holden said, noting that the city of New Orleans is currently dealing with the cost of two federal public safety consent decrees. "We can avoid the same situation."

Most of the 12-member council said they did not believe an emergency existed, and that the proposal could be refined over the next few months to study other funding options such as privatization.

"We're really an overtaxed people. If you look at the taxes we pay it's almost scary," said councilman Buddy Amoroso. "I think we need more time for the public to vet this. We need more council input."

Council woman Ronnie Edwards said she did not want to prohibit anyone from voting on the issue. She unsuccessfully argued that if the election date was scheduled there still would be time to discuss innovative methods to reduce costs.

While council decided not to declare an emergency to consider the May election date, it remains unclear if Holden will bring the issue up at a future meeting to consider a referendum for the October ballot.

In 2011, Holden proposed a larger package of bond-financed projects that included public safety. The council voted against holding a referendum for those issues.

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